Can a paperback copy of Russell Banks’ The Sweet Hereafter do what jail cannot – change an offender’s life
for the better?
Readers know that books can take us to other worlds, provide
entertainment, information, insight, solace. Now there is evidence that
literature can also transform the lives of people in the justice system.
The Changing Lives Through Literature (CLTL) program was
created in 1991 by UMass-Dartmouth professor Robert Waxler and his friend, Bob
Kane, a judge. Kane was fed up with a “turnstile” justice system that saw the
same people commit the same crimes as soon as they walked out the jail door. Waxler
was determined to test his belief in the power of literature to reach places
inside the minds and hearts of offenders where real change could take place. New studies support Waxler’s hypothesis, showing that among other things, reading
helps develop empathy, and that increased empathy can lead to changes in behavior.
The original CLTL program included eight men who had 145
convictions, many of them felony convictions. Waxler wanted to test his program
with “tough guys” who would prove that he hadn’t stacked the deck with more
highly educated, less dangerous participants. At the end of the program, the
tough guys’ recidivism rate was only 19 percent, compared to 45 percent for the general
prison population. The results were impressive, but Waxler said that the
statistics were not what interested him. He knew the program was working when
one young drug dealer told him of his excitement at reading Jack London’s Sea Wolf, and how his newfound love of
books led him to start reading to his three-year-old daughter.
How does CLTL work? Offenders serve part of their sentence
by meeting in small groups to discuss books such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X or Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. These and the other books chosen for the program have characters that face serious
choices and issues. The most unique part of CLTL is the participation of
members of the legal and law enforcement communities. Participants could find
themselves talking about Langston Hughes’ poems with a judge or a probation
officer, and a college professor facilitator. By sitting around a table,
listening to each other, participants feel valued for their ideas, not judged
for their crimes. Participants see each other as human beings, not as
statistics or faceless uniforms.
CLTL programs are in place in 14 states and have been
adopted in the UK. One longitudinal study of 600 CLTL participants in
Massachusetts showed a 60 percent drop in recidivism for those who completed the
program and a 16 percent drop for those who did not. In cases where participants
reoffended, there was a significant drop in the number and severity of the type
of crime committed. These are better results than many more expensive programs,
and the program has been particularly effective for juvenile offenders.
With U. S. Bureau of Justice statistics stating that
prisoners cost U. S. taxpayers more than $70 billion
and
the New York Times reporting that 1 in 100 Americans are currently or have been
in the criminal justice system, we need ideas and programs like CLTL.
Compare $70 billion to the cost of a box of paperback books,
a facilitator, and an hour a week around a table in a library.
As the CLTL webpage states, literature has the power to
transform. Yet, one article I read stated that CLTL has been a “hard sell” to
government officials, who doubt the effectiveness of a literature based
program.
You have to wonder. Why would states prefer to spend
billions on jails instead of buying a few boxes of books?
Is there a book that changed your life?
